It has been good to see many of you down in Juneau. The session has been busy and we're making good progress on several of our priorities, although we're also fighting various proposed cuts, including a 42% cut to both the debt reimbursement program and the REAA fund deposit.

In this update, I'll share an overview of what we've been working on, but you'll learn more at our Spring Board meeting: Thursday, March 16, 2016, 4:30 - 6:30 pm. at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage (in conjunction with the ATP Anchorage Job Fair). Please make plans to attend - your school board members and guests are also welcome. We will provide light snacks, and meeting materials will be sent out in advance for your review. RSVP today to sarah@ceequity.org.

Legislative Activity

Please see the attached update from Chris and Reggie. They are doing great work and we are making progress here around pre-K and refinements to the REAA funding mechanism. They will be providing a full report and will take your questions at our 3/16/17 board meeting.

The House Finance Committee is taking testimony this week (hopefully you saw my email about this yesterday). They are seeking calls (and written testimony) to back them up on not cutting education and support for a balanced fiscal plan that includes generating revenue. PLEASE call them - it will make a difference - and PLEASE find a few community members to also call. I've posted the testimony schedule below (and for the many of you who don't have and LIO available, there are Off Net Site designated times and a number to call). I've attached our position statement on revenue for your reference. And please voice your opposition to the cuts to debt reimbursement and the REAA fund.

Moore Pre-K Sites

I've sent several of you an email about the potential for adding dollars to the pre-elementary grant amounts to cover bringing in the current Moore pre-K sites. This has a real possibility of getting introduced and passed (in the House), so please make your contacts to help this move along.

Educator Quality & Quantity

Barbara Adams and Jerry Covey have developed a proposal for an applied research/direct support pilot project to happen in the 2017-18 school year. This pilot would work with a handful of school districts to apply a research-based systems model to better understand workforce concerns, reduce employee turnover, and increase employee satisfaction and performance. The deliverables from this work will not only help the partner school districts, but also provide data that can be used to improve educator preparation and workforce development in Alaska. We would use this information in combination with the evaluation of the Moore Teacher Retention Grants to surface policy implications and recommendations. We've met with Commissioner Johnson about this proposal and he is in support and willing to work with me in an advisory role. We anticipate having funds from the Moore Settlement available to provide this pilot to 4-5 of our CEE members at no cost and will be sending out details about this soon.

Don't forget to RSVP for our March 16 board meeting in Anchorage (sarah@ceequity.org). See below for the House Finance Committee testimony schedule and call-in information.

My best,

Sarah

The schedule for public testimony is below. If you or your community members are not able to attend at one of the LIO offices, you would call during Off Net sites designated times. The number to call is 844-586-9085. You can also send written testimony to Representative Neal Foster (House Finance Co-Chair) at Representative.Neal.Foster@akleg.gov or call his office at 907-465-3789. Contacting your Representatives and Senators is also always helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.

Thursday, March 2, 2017 1:00-6:00 PM

Public Testimony:

1:00 – 3:30 p.m.* Homer, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Mat-Su & Seward

3:45 – 6:00 p.m.* Barrow, Dillingham & Fairbanks

**In the case of postponement, Thursday’s public testimony will be rescheduled as follows: